At first Mrs. Ina St. Romaine Ducasse had a hard time con­vincing herself she was still alive.
"I never thought I'd last through the operation," admit­ted the 58-year-old grandmoth­er, f;
Mrs. Ducasse is in Charity, hospital recovering from very delicate surgery during which the surgeon literally squeezed clots from blood vessels of her lungs. It was the second time that such an operation was suc­cessfully performed in Louisi* ana.
Propped up in her hospital bed Wednesday, the patient said she spends most of her spare moments these days "thanking the Good Lord for sending me such a fine surgeon." TURNS BLUE
"He saved my life," Mrs. Du­casse announced with convic­tion. "I was scared, me. I look­ed down at my fingers and they were turning blue. Then I look­ed down at my toes and they were turning blue. So I said to the nurse, 'Please call a priest.' "
The sweet-faced grandmother said the doctors have promised her that she can return to her I home at 3201 Milan in about a week.
"I can hardly wait to see my grandchildren again," she add­ed. "The oldest one is named Albert. He's five. Then there's Jeanne Marie. She's 15 months old. They wouldn't let them come to visit me in the hospital on account of germs. But my two boys, Earl and John St. Ger-maine, they came all the time. They're sons by a former mar­riage, and they both have gro­cery stores. Earl's store is up­town, and John's store is down­town."
Mrs. Ducasse said Feb. 4 she was operated on for a diseased gallbladder.
"I thought I was getting along fine. Then the day before Mardi Gras I blacked out," she re­called. "Just keeled right over."
JDr. Isadore Cohn Jr., who heads tjhe surgery department at Louisiana State University Med­ical school, said, "Actually, without warning, Mrs. Ducasse went into shock."
"Fortunately," he added, "our chief resident surgeon from LSU, Dr._William.Luga^kgi., was on the war¥~^TTIieume. He
started immediate measures to counteract shock. Then he or­dered an electrocardiogram, a chest X-ray and certain essen­tial laboratory studies."
The LSU surgical chief said physicians, studying the case, suspected either a heart attack or a pulmonary embolism — a condition in which a clot forms
in the major blood vessels of the lungs, stopping the flow of blood to the lungs.
"Since a pulmonary embolism can cause a patient to go into shock and since various tests in­dicated; an embolus, the physi­cians decided to verify their su­spicions with the aid of an an-giogram," Dr. Cohn explained.
giogram," Dr. Cohn explained.
DYE IS,USED
The surgeon said dye was in­jected into the veins leading to the right side of the patient's heart; that, with the aid of the heart, this dye was pumped into I the pulmonary artery."
"At this Doint" he* added.
"multiple X-rays were taken of the lungs. The angiogram re­vealed that the patient had a big clot, with branches, in the right lung-a clot which was complete­ly blocking circulation to the right lung. She also had a large
clot in the arteries of the left lung, which was blocking ap­proximately half of the blood supply to this lung."
Dr. Cohn said:JUSU.physician} decided that, without surgery, Mrs. Ducasse probably could not live another 24 hours. He said that by this time the pa­tient was really cyanotic, really ig blue.
Surgery was performed by Dr. Bert Glass, assistant pro-
fessor ' ery at the LSU
Medical School.
"It was the second time in history that such surgery had been successfully performed in Louisiana," Dr: Cohn explained.
'I think LSU is very fortu-I nate in having such a capable surgeon."
The head of the surgical de­partment said ths surgery nat­urally involved use of a heart-jlung machine; that without the aid of such a machine, Mrs. Ducasse's operation probably would not have been possible.
CHEST OPENED "Dr. Glass opened the pa-
tient's chest with an incision right through the breast bone," Dr. Cohn explained. "Mrs. Du-casse's heart was then connect-
ed to the heart-lung machine, which took over the function of the heart and the lungs while the surgeon was busy opening up the arteries of the lungs and removing the clots from these arteries."
Dr. Cohn said the surgeon
squeezed each of the patient's
lungs, literally squeezing out
the offending clots.
: He said after the clots were
queezed put, the heart-lung
machine was removed and the
patient's own circulation was
reestablished.
Dr. Cohn said surgery was performed while the Proteus pa­rade was passing along the streets of the city. He said he just; could not say enough; in praise of the Charity Hospital-LSU team who gave up their Carnival fun to help with the operation.
'■'.The X-ray people pitched in for us and worked overtime," he recalled, "Blood Bank tech­nicians did a hurry-up job in setting up the blood which might be needed during sur­gery. Members of the operating room crew prepared the opera­ting room in record time. And although the two LSU heart-lung machine technicians had already gone home, they re­turned immediately and stood by until time came for them to man the heart-lung machine pump. No parade for them that night. Practically everyone In town was having a holiday, and thanks to these unselfish people you might say that' this time Death also took a holiday."
Dr. Cohn said the same co­operation was shown on Mardi Gras day proper; that many persons attached to Charity voluntarily gave up their day of fun to look after Mrs. Du­casse. ...-, '. .
The LSU surgical chief said of 92 cases of pulmonary em­bolism reported recently half died within 10 minutes and only 12 lived more than 12 hours.
"I agree with Mrs. Ducasse,7 the surgeron added. "Someone up there certainly helped her." PHOTO: SURVIVING a rare emergency operation and recuperating at Charity Hospital is Mrs. Ina St. Romaine Ducasse, 58-year-old grandmother, who lives at 3201 Milan st.

Click tabs to swap between content that is broken into logical sections.

At first Mrs. Ina St. Romaine Ducasse had a hard time con­vincing herself she was still alive.
"I never thought I'd last through the operation," admit­ted the 58-year-old grandmoth­er, f;
Mrs. Ducasse is in Charity, hospital recovering from very delicate surgery during which the surgeon literally squeezed clots from blood vessels of her lungs. It was the second time that such an operation was suc­cessfully performed in Louisi* ana.
Propped up in her hospital bed Wednesday, the patient said she spends most of her spare moments these days "thanking the Good Lord for sending me such a fine surgeon." TURNS BLUE
"He saved my life," Mrs. Du­casse announced with convic­tion. "I was scared, me. I look­ed down at my fingers and they were turning blue. Then I look­ed down at my toes and they were turning blue. So I said to the nurse, 'Please call a priest.' "
The sweet-faced grandmother said the doctors have promised her that she can return to her I home at 3201 Milan in about a week.
"I can hardly wait to see my grandchildren again," she add­ed. "The oldest one is named Albert. He's five. Then there's Jeanne Marie. She's 15 months old. They wouldn't let them come to visit me in the hospital on account of germs. But my two boys, Earl and John St. Ger-maine, they came all the time. They're sons by a former mar­riage, and they both have gro­cery stores. Earl's store is up­town, and John's store is down­town."
Mrs. Ducasse said Feb. 4 she was operated on for a diseased gallbladder.
"I thought I was getting along fine. Then the day before Mardi Gras I blacked out," she re­called. "Just keeled right over."
JDr. Isadore Cohn Jr., who heads tjhe surgery department at Louisiana State University Med­ical school, said, "Actually, without warning, Mrs. Ducasse went into shock."
"Fortunately," he added, "our chief resident surgeon from LSU, Dr._William.Luga^kgi., was on the war¥~^TTIieume. He
started immediate measures to counteract shock. Then he or­dered an electrocardiogram, a chest X-ray and certain essen­tial laboratory studies."
The LSU surgical chief said physicians, studying the case, suspected either a heart attack or a pulmonary embolism — a condition in which a clot forms
in the major blood vessels of the lungs, stopping the flow of blood to the lungs.
"Since a pulmonary embolism can cause a patient to go into shock and since various tests in­dicated; an embolus, the physi­cians decided to verify their su­spicions with the aid of an an-giogram," Dr. Cohn explained.
giogram," Dr. Cohn explained.
DYE IS,USED
The surgeon said dye was in­jected into the veins leading to the right side of the patient's heart; that, with the aid of the heart, this dye was pumped into I the pulmonary artery."
"At this Doint" he* added.
"multiple X-rays were taken of the lungs. The angiogram re­vealed that the patient had a big clot, with branches, in the right lung-a clot which was complete­ly blocking circulation to the right lung. She also had a large
clot in the arteries of the left lung, which was blocking ap­proximately half of the blood supply to this lung."
Dr. Cohn said:JUSU.physician} decided that, without surgery, Mrs. Ducasse probably could not live another 24 hours. He said that by this time the pa­tient was really cyanotic, really ig blue.
Surgery was performed by Dr. Bert Glass, assistant pro-
fessor ' ery at the LSU
Medical School.
"It was the second time in history that such surgery had been successfully performed in Louisiana," Dr: Cohn explained.
'I think LSU is very fortu-I nate in having such a capable surgeon."
The head of the surgical de­partment said ths surgery nat­urally involved use of a heart-jlung machine; that without the aid of such a machine, Mrs. Ducasse's operation probably would not have been possible.
CHEST OPENED "Dr. Glass opened the pa-
tient's chest with an incision right through the breast bone," Dr. Cohn explained. "Mrs. Du-casse's heart was then connect-
ed to the heart-lung machine, which took over the function of the heart and the lungs while the surgeon was busy opening up the arteries of the lungs and removing the clots from these arteries."
Dr. Cohn said the surgeon
squeezed each of the patient's
lungs, literally squeezing out
the offending clots.
: He said after the clots were
queezed put, the heart-lung
machine was removed and the
patient's own circulation was
reestablished.
Dr. Cohn said surgery was performed while the Proteus pa­rade was passing along the streets of the city. He said he just; could not say enough; in praise of the Charity Hospital-LSU team who gave up their Carnival fun to help with the operation.
'■'.The X-ray people pitched in for us and worked overtime," he recalled, "Blood Bank tech­nicians did a hurry-up job in setting up the blood which might be needed during sur­gery. Members of the operating room crew prepared the opera­ting room in record time. And although the two LSU heart-lung machine technicians had already gone home, they re­turned immediately and stood by until time came for them to man the heart-lung machine pump. No parade for them that night. Practically everyone In town was having a holiday, and thanks to these unselfish people you might say that' this time Death also took a holiday."
Dr. Cohn said the same co­operation was shown on Mardi Gras day proper; that many persons attached to Charity voluntarily gave up their day of fun to look after Mrs. Du­casse. ...-, '. .
The LSU surgical chief said of 92 cases of pulmonary em­bolism reported recently half died within 10 minutes and only 12 lived more than 12 hours.
"I agree with Mrs. Ducasse,7 the surgeron added. "Someone up there certainly helped her." PHOTO: SURVIVING a rare emergency operation and recuperating at Charity Hospital is Mrs. Ina St. Romaine Ducasse, 58-year-old grandmother, who lives at 3201 Milan st.